Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Big South
Picked to win the Big South for the third straight season, Coastal Carolina fell short of that goal this fall when Charleston Southern surprised Coastal, 33-25 to grab the league crown. Still, the Chanticleers, who will become a transition member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2016, had another fine season under Joe Moglia. He took over the program in 2012 and Coastal has made the playoffs in each of his four seasons. The Chanticleers are 39-7 in their last 45 games and outside of North Dakota State no one has won more games in the FCS in the last two years than Coastal Carolina.
2015 Record: 9-2, 4-2
Coach: Joe Moglia
Big Wins: 9/12 at South Carolina State (41-14), 9/19 Western Illinois (34-27)
Bad Losses: 10/31 at Charleston Southern (25-33), 11/19 at Liberty (21-24)
Strengths:
This team knows how to win with 18 seniors on the roster and it has one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in senior Alex Ross. The reigning Big South Player of the Year, Ross has more than 10,600 yards in total offense, and he became the Big South’s all-time leader for total offense against Kennesaw State a few weeks ago. Ross is a key reason Coastal is averaging more than 35 points a game, and it has been a strong first half team outscoring its opponents 236-101. Ross, however, isn’t the only offensive weapon for Coastal Carolina. De’Angelo Henderson is a 1,000-yard rusher who is averaging more than 6.0 yards a carry. At least seven receivers have 10 catches. The Chanticleers are in top 20 nationally in scoring offense and the top 25 in rushing offense. In addition, Devin Brown and Chris Jones are nationally ranked in kick and punt returns, respectively. Defensively, lineman Jabarai Bothwell has keyed the unit as he has been named the team’s Defensive Player of the Week six times. He has stepped up his game and recorded 64 tackles on the year.
Weaknesses:
If the Chanticleers have a concern, it would be on the defensive side of the ball. In one of their losses, Charleston Southern totaled 456 yards offense (204 rushing, 252 passing). In that contest, Charleston Southern was 9-of-14 on third-down conversions. Even with its potent offense, Coastal can’t allow teams to have that conversion rate if it wants to go deep into the playoffs. Although the Chanticleers are ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense nationally, they are 71st in total defense. Coastal is in the bottom 50 in turnover margin, too.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: De’Angelo Henderson, RB, 1,245 yards
Passing: Alex Ross, QB, 2,594 yards
Receiving: Bruce Mapp, WR, 649 yards
Tackles: Alex Scearce, LB, 70
Sacks: Roderick Holder, DE, 4.5
Interceptions: Kelvin Deveaux, DB, 2
2015 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 201.1 (25th in nation, 3rd in conference)
Passing Offense: 244.3 (39, 2)
Total Offense: 445.4 (20, 1)
Scoring Offense: 36.2 (13, 1)
Rushing Defense: 170.2 (68, 6)
Pass Defense: 232.6 (89, 7)
Total Defense: 402.8 (78, 7)
Scoring Defense: 17.6 (14, 2)
Turnover Margin: 0.30 (38, 2)
Sacks: 1.50 (99, 6)
Sacks Allowed: 1.20 (26, 2)
Recent Playoff Appearances:
2014 Second Round Defeated Richmond
2014 Quarterfinals Lost to North Dakota State
2013 First Round Defeated Bethune-Cookman
2013 Second Round Defeated Montana
2013 Quarterfinals Lost to North Dakota State
2012 First Round Defeated Bethune-Cookman
2012 Second Round Lost to Old Dominion
2010 First Round Lost to Western Illinois
2006 First Round Lost to Appalachian State
*all team stats through 11/14
